5.  The applicant was born in 1967 and lives in Chełm. He is currently detained in Lublin Remand Centre.
6.  On 25 February 2003 the applicant was arrested by the police. On 27 February 2003 the Lublin District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) decided to detain the applicant on remand in view of a reasonable suspicion that he had committed several offences of fraud, in different locations in Poland, Switzerland and Germany. The court relied on the likelihood that a heavy sentence might be imposed on the applicant and that there was a risk of his absconding. It based its conclusion on the fact that the applicant had multiple citizenship and permanent residence permits in Switzerland and Monaco.
7.  On 16 May 2003 the Lublin District Court extended the applicant's detention until 25 February 2004, reiterating the original grounds for the detention. The applicant appealed against this decision, complaining in particular about the considerable period of time for which his detention had been extended.
8.  On 12 June 2003 the Lublin Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) dismissed the appeal, finding that there were justifiable reasons to explain why the investigation had not yet been terminated by the prosecutor.
9.  Subsequently, as the applicant's detention pending investigation had exceeded a period of one year, the Lublin Appellate Prosecutor applied to the Lublin Court of Appeal to extend further his pre-trial detention. On 18 February 2004 the court allowed the application, relying on the severity of the sentence to which the applicant was liable and on the necessity of continuing the complex investigation and evidence-taking process, which required international co-operation.
10.  On 10 August 2004 the applicant was indicted before the Lublin District Court. The trial court held the first hearing on 16 December 2004.
11.  The applicant's pre-trial detention was subsequently extended on 26 January 2005 by the trial court and on 16 February 2005 by the Lublin Court of Appeal. The courts relied on the grounds cited previously, namely the severity of the possible sentence, which created a risk of the applicant's going into hiding, and the necessity of gathering evidence in this particularly complex case. The courts also found that the applicant's state of health was not serious enough to justify the need for his treatment outside prison. In the last of these decisions the Court of Appeal also considered that it was not possible to release the applicant on bail as he did not have sufficient assets to secure his appearance at the trial.
12.  On 20 July 2005 the Court of Appeal extended the applicant's detention until 30 January 2006. The court based its decision on the process of gathering evidence in this particularly complex case and on the risk of the applicant's attempting to influence witnesses. As regards the latter argument, the court noted that during the preparatory proceedings the applicant had been smuggling notes from prison concerning illegal actions aimed at interfering with the proceedings.
The court decided, however, that the applicant could be released upon payment of bail in the amount of 40,000,000 Polish zlotys (PLN), (approximately 10,000,000 euros (EUR) at the material time). It gave the following reasons for its decision:
“...given the request to replace detention on remand with bail [in an amount] that [the applicant] would be able to pay, lodged by one of his lawyers, it is now possible to examine again the issue of the application of another preventive measure [to the applicant]. The Court of Appeal is convinced that the accused has a substantial fortune; indeed, that can be deduced from the notes smuggled out of prison (gryps), addressed to his wife, which have been secured [by the authorities]. His means, not only financial, which [the applicant] refers to in this note justify [releasing the applicant on bail] and setting the amount of bail at PLN 40,000,000. The amount of bail, based on the applicant's financial worth, is justified by the need to ensure the proper course of the proceedings and takes into account the scale of the damage and the type of offences committed.”
13.  On 28 July 2005 the applicant's lawyer lodged an appeal against that decision, complaining about the excessive amount of bail fixed by the court. He requested the Lublin District Court to impose bail in an amount that could be realistically paid by the applicant, for example PLN 500,000 (EUR 125,000), or in the form of a mortgage on his father's real property.
14.  On 3 August 2005 the appeal was dismissed by the Lublin Court of Appeal. The court considered that the amount of bail fixed by the trial court had been justified. The court again referred to the applicant's letter to his wife in which he had informed her of substantial gains from international financial operations. The court also submitted that the fraud of which the applicant had been accused involved an amount of PLN 41,000,000.
15.  On 1 September 2005 the Lublin District Court dismissed a further request by the applicant to lift the order for his detention.
16.  On 18 January 2006 the Lublin Court of Appeal extended the applicant's detention. The court pointed to a number of objective reasons which explained why the applicant's trial had not yet finished, for which the trial court could not be held responsible. It also relied on the particular complexity of the case.
17.  On 16 March 2006 the Lublin District Court gave judgment. It convicted the applicant and sentenced him to 14 years' imprisonment. The court further extended the applicant's detention and discontinued the decision of 20 July 2005 concerning the bail conditions.
The court established that between 1997 and 2003 the applicant had created a false identity for himself and developed a model for international frauds which had allowed him to commit a series of offences. He had pretended to be a Cambridge or Oxford graduate, the owner of huge wealth located in different parts of the world which included 3,500 tons of gold deposited in a Zurich bank, the owner of a company, W, and the holder of the title Prince Peter von Hochburg – from an aristocratic Italian family. The applicant claimed to be an international investment adviser and broker able to secure bank guarantees of 150,000,000 United States dollars (USD). He falsely claimed to be employed by financial institutions. In reality the applicant did not have a university education and was not even registered as a taxpayer.
He was convicted of, inter alia, having obtained USD 4,800,000 under false pretences from a former footballer, R, and a further USD 5,000,000 from an Australian company, S. The applicant was also convicted of a series of other investment frauds and forgeries against individuals and companies in Poland and in Germany.
18.  The applicant was notified of the reasoned judgment on 13 September 2006 and he lodged an appeal against it.
19.  On 16 February 2007 the Lublin Regional Court, sitting as an appeal court, held the first hearing in the case.
20.  On 31 August 2007 the Lublin Regional Court gave a judgment in the applicant's case. It partly upheld the first-instance judgment and sentenced the applicant to eight years' imprisonment.
21.  The applicant lodged a cassation appeal and the proceedings are currently pending before the Supreme Court.